(Editor’s Note: The title of Simon’s video series, Modern Magic, was decided before the advent of the Modern Constructed format and is not meant to imply that Simon will be covering the Modern format herein. We apologize for any confusion this may have caused, but we hope you enjoy his videos nonetheless! –PlanetWalls)
Introduction, Draft, and Deckbuilding
Click the arrow to download the above video in .mp4 format.M12 Draft, Round 1
Click the arrow to download the above video in .mp4 format. Click the arrow to download the above video in .mp4 format. Click the arrow to download the above video in .mp4 format.
Just wanted to say, this is my favorite series on this website, by a fairly wide margin, keep up the good work.
Also, I’m not confused by it, but you really need to change the title, since it is limited focused and there is now a format called Modern.
Simon Says perhaps?
I love your videos, I’m just now watching M1G1. I wondered why, on the turn you got up to 7 mana, you didn’t just drop the Drake and Sorin’s Thirst his Llanowar Elves to keep him mana screwed? That’s the play I would’ve probably made, but obviously you know what you’re doing way better than I could ever hope to.
good draft. though i can’t say i agree with p1p2. at that point you already knew you’d be leaning towards a slower control deck, and trying to go b/r will usually pigeonhole you into some sort of fast bloodthirst deck. also i just plain hate the turn to frog pick. i think that card is 100% terrible in this format.
I like BT’s suggestion. Simon Says is the best title. (I don’t know if they have Simon Says in Germany.)
Anyway, I just had to post to say that in my opinion, your videos are the best on this site, and for that matter they are the best on pretty much any site (the only real competition being LSV).
I love your draft and analysis.
Thanks for your feedback and comments! I am thinking about a new title for my series, so stay tuned for that.
@GZA: I only had three Swamps, so casting Sorin’s Thirst would have lead me to wasting my turn, as Skywinder Drake wouldn’t have an impact due to the Arbalest Elite. If he doesn’t draw a land in his next draw step, my play is superior, and if he does, he still has the follow-up Grave Titan to deal with, with Sorin’s Thirst still in my hand. Your play is perfectly fine, though.
@shrip: Regarding P1P3, I think you underestimate the amount of control you have over the archetype you are drafting. Even in B/R, there is a lot of controlling elements as long as you change your pick orders appropriately, i.e. picking removal higher than the bloodthirst creatures. At pick 3, I go for power level, and Volcanic Dragon offers more than Chasm Drake. Also, Chasm Drake is just not a great signal to move into blue. Regarding Turn to Frog, it depends heavily on your deck and gameplan, but it offers something very unique for its cost.
One more thing about the Sorin’s Thirst on Llanowar Elves play – it’s only better if he draws a land next turn, but it’s also not winning if he draws two lands in a row. He would be on 4 with the first Spider in play and the second one in hand, and your board is Skywinder Drake with whatever you searched for with Diabolic Tutor last turn.
Let us know about the Grand Abolisher ruling anyway!
(Nice draft and good play)
You’re right about the Abolisher AFAIK, send in a bug report on that.
Regarding Grand Abolisher, I should have been able to activate the Skeleton for the reason I stated in the video. I have to admit though that I have not yet filed a bug report as I have been quite busy.
Concerning the series title, I am really looking for something that stands on its own and is not too pun-y. As a simple criterion, I check if the name would be suited as the title of a Magic strategy book ;-). That’s why I have some doubts about Simon Says, although it’s a nice and fitting reference. I also don’t know if I like the focus on me/my name that much.
One last thing, if you like my series, please tell your friends! I am making these videos for the community, and the more people enjoy them, the better. Last episode got a critical comment regarding the intro I make, but I believe it adds a lot to the series and I intend to keep it that way, although I might try to condense it somewhat more. I figure that people who do not want to listen to the intro for whatever reasons can just fast forward to P1P1, anyway, while the rest hopefully appreciates the bonus content (which does in fact consume a nonnegligible amount of thought and preparation).
“Simon Says” is not embedded in popular German culture very much. It gained some popularly due to Hollywood movies – particularly the movie “Die Hard with a Vengeance” with Bruce Willis made it somewhat known. It is however a funny name and would fit the series well (even though I would not want to compare Simon with the main villain in the movie that plays the game…).
Excellent draft and games as usual – I really like the time you take to think about sideboarding options. Often players just throw in some hate cards and leave it at that but not many are conducting such as thorough analysis of the options.
In this draft I noticed that I personally tend to “fear” card draw engines such as Merfolk Looter and Azure Mage more then you do. Usually I destroy them asap if I can. That might be an error sometimes but it is very hard to judge the power provided by those cards over time and I rather remove them quickly. You have a more relaxed approach and decided on a few occasions to let them live so you have time to do other things.
Looking forward to your next draft!
P.S.: I am pretty sure the Grand Abolisher incident is a bug. The card in the graveyard is not a creature and it should be possible to activate the ability.
Sorin Thirst on Llanowar Elves: you are way ahead in that game, and his only chance is to draw good cards and be able to play them. You lose one turn but he loses one turn too, which is good for you at that moment. And you do know what is in his hand, and that is exactly what you don’t want him to be able to play.
Simon, I am definitely a huge fan of this series.
Keep posting this more often!
re: opening comments
your opening monologue is one of the great things about your series. it is unique and interesting. please continue to do it!
Simon Says – works for me Plejades!
Great video. As mentioned above, the amount of thought you put into your moves is just incredible. You do an excellent job of describing your options and then explaining the route you will take. This is where I really learn. It’s not by watching moves, but by listening to why the move is made. You do an excellent job of doing this – much better than the majority of pro’s who put out video content (it’s right up there with LSVs stuff IMHO).
Did anyone else like the sound of “Zorin” as opposed to “Sorin”? Sounds much cooler and I think I’ll start calling it that too
It took me all of 3 seconds to think up the new potential title “Simon Says” so it won’t hurt my feelings any if you decide to go in a different direction.
That being said, if I was producing high level content, which I believe you are, I would absolutely want my name associated with it as much as possible.
For what it is worth, I don’t think it is a particularly pun-y name, which I assume you want to stay away from because that particular niche is already filled by a well known pro.
Great videos! The theoretical commentary really helped. I love how you restructure your deck during sideboarding based on how the matchups work.
Every time I see a draft of yours I like them more and more. By far the most educational draft series out there. Keep it up, Simon!
Doesn’t Turn to Frog still work (makes him a 1/1) on Benalish Veteran after the +1+1 trigger resolves?
Hitzov -
Nah, it doesn’t work. Turn to frog essentially replaces the P/T on a creature card with 1/1. So, he’d be a 1/1 that got a +1/+1 from attacking. Same reason it doesn’t work with counters on bloodthirst guys.
No offense to anyone, but I vote no on ‘Simon Says’. Modern Magic is a cool, intelligent title, and it gives off an impression of a more analytical video series, which this definitely is. Probably still should change it but ‘Simon Says’ just feels too obvious – you can come up with something better.
@ Hitzov:
As per the layering rules, effects that alter power and toughness (‘Becomes’ effects) are calculated before effects that add or subtract power and toughness (‘Gets’ effects). Therefor, even though the Turn to Frog might resolve after the Veteran’s ability, he will still be a 1/1 with +1/+1, so a 2/2.
Dear Sim0n,
I really appreciate the amount of work you put into your videos, such as the pregame summaries or expositions, can’t think of the right word…and the play by play explanations. I believe comparing yours and LSV’s work is somewhat insulting…videos constantly in-and-out of focus, obnoxious background noise and of course the never ending onslaught of irrelevant advertisements (I feel like I am battling the walking dead) make his work absolutely unwatchable. Besides, I just like your content better it is much more educational. As for “Simon Says”, I believe the content of your work has enough of a serious/educational feel to it, that such a title is perfect. It lightens the mood a bit and does give that “I’m going to learn something from this video because it is his and he says so” feel to it..right? Anyway, keepem-a-commin’ please! P.S.- Grave Titan swing/Turn to frog/Vastwood Gorger…seemed super loose for you, I was yelling at you through cyber space..and time, i guess. Finally, it is def. zorin’s thirst from this day forward…your beautiful accent soothes my racing mind on those dark sleepless nights…
I really appreciate that you share your acquired knowledge in these videos. Especially because you do it in your unique analytical way. As others mentioned before there are not many other players out there who are able to express “why” they make their decision the way they do!
I would like to talk about the statement you made about the matchup in round 2. I think you correctly identified the nature of that matchup and i really liked they way you sideboarded (in every round btw.). But when you listed the different angles of attack the RW deck and how you managed to circumvent them you forgot the griffin plan. I think that in game 2 you would have lost to the griffin rider even if he did not have the guardians pledge. His deck contained several flyers with a toughness >3 which is one of the weak points of your deck. I just wanted to point out that this was an angle of attack that you could hardly play around. This becomes even more clear in match 3 where you can board in ice cages to handle his big threats (harbor serpent, sengir vampire and chasm drake) which is not an option in the RW matchup (though you could bring in the one deathmark there)
Nice Videos!
Really convenient that you record the game where you open grave titan as an article about control in m12 draft. If you get grave titan, it’s pretty likely that anyone would build a control deck……….
Despite the bombs, I still loved this draft. It was the first one I saw of yours and it was really an eye-opener. At times where the play seemed like a “windmill slam” (e.g. Diabolic Tutor always into Grave Titan) you went for a more subtle and deeper understanding of the game state and your overall path to victory. It’s obvious you are on a much different level than myself. hehe =)
By the way, keep the commentary at the beginning.
Very nice video, Simon. I really like to just relax and watching your drafts. I hope you doing more videos in the future. Grüße aus Bremerhaven.